Power of attorney #assetprotectionplanning

11 Jul 2023 · 1 min

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1:00

In this brief presentation, Jerry Taylor warns that every adult faces a realistic chance of becoming incapacitated due to accidents, illness, or dementia, which would prevent them from managing their finances or health decisions. He explains that without a pre‑executed power of attorney, a court must intervene, and a judge may appoint a guardian or conservator—potentially someone the individual does not trust—to make decisions for the rest of their life. Taylor emphasizes that the only way to retain control over who makes those critical decisions is to proactively execute a power of attorney, thereby designating a trusted person before any incapacity occurs.

Chapters

If you're an adult and you can hear my voice, or if you're just reading the captions, I'm about to give you some information that for some of you will be the most important information you will ever receive in life. Because it is a certainty, unfortunately, somebody watching this will have an accident in their lives and become incapacitated. You won't be able to make decisions about your finances or your health. Some of you watching at some point in the future will develop dementia. You say, Jerry Taylor, why are you talking about these terrible subjects? Well, I do this because every one of you needs a power of attorney. Because if one of these unfortunate things occurs and you do not have a power of attorney, someone will have to obtain the authority to make decisions on your behalf. The only way to do that without a power of attorney is to actually go to court and file a lawsuit asking for the court to give authority to someone. Anyone can show up and argue that they should be your guardian or your conservator. And whoever the judge appoints may be your guardian conservator for the rest of your life. You should be the one to make that decision. And you do that by executing a power of attorney.